Lunches at work

ThunderZtorm
ThunderZtorm Posts: 27 Member
edited December 1 in Health and Weight Loss
Hey guys,

How do you guys log/handle work lunches? We have a canteen at work where we can grab whatever we want on the day, basically.

My lunch is typically some corn, some peas, an egg, broccoli, beans, cucumber, shredded carrot and a bit of whatever meat is there on the day. There's often small variations due to them not having the same thing every day.

First of all, there simply isn't time or space to weigh everything, it's not an option. There's just enough time to get the food, eat it comfortably and be back on the phone in time for next shift to go eat.

So far, I've been using a "mixed veggies" entry for the green stuff. I know it's not precise at all, but I suspect that it's really not that far off either. I tried initially to type them in individually, but tbh I don't see that much difference either.

Anyone has a better idea how to do this?


Note: I am losing weight, and the homemade meals are weighed.

Replies

  • KateTii
    KateTii Posts: 886 Member
    Honestly, if you're losing weight at a pace that is comfortable for you, it's probably not worth the stress trying to figure out a "better way". It seems like you are making sensible decisions and limiting portions of the higher-calorie items.

    Unless you took some home and weighed it, you probably won't be very accurate - and even then you don't know how much oil was used in cooking.

    The last option that I could see would to bring your own lunch, but it doesn't make sense to do so if you are happy with the canteen lunches.
  • ziggy2006
    ziggy2006 Posts: 255 Member
    You should do whatever works for you and results in weight loss. So as long as your current routine is comfortable and your estimation is close enough that it isn't negatively impacting the results you are seeing, then you are fine to carry on.

    Just remain aware that your logging for work lunches is imprecise. That might be something to explore later if it starts negatively impacting your weight loss.

    As to what I do for lunch at work, I prepare them on Sundays. Lately I've been on a Mason jar salad kick, but I've also made other recipes that yield a week's worth of lunches. They are weighed and measured, ready to go in the morning. It is easy, cheap, delicious, quick, and healthy, so that strategy meets my needs.

  • ThunderZtorm
    ThunderZtorm Posts: 27 Member
    In Denmark we generally pay our lunch via salary (a symbolic monthly fee), and the food we get in my office is typically both awesome and healthy, so I'm very happy with it generally.

    I tend to overestimate the lunch food, just to be sure - I'd rather write down too many calories than too few.
  • BelleCakes2018
    BelleCakes2018 Posts: 568 Member
    I know you may find this a bit embarassing.. but have you thought about measuring cups? It would be easier to take these with you than scales.. lol and quicker. You could discretely put the stuff in the cup one day, note the amount and bung it back on your plate! Either that or just hold one of the cups in front of your plate and guesstimate whether it would fit in the cup! lol
  • Abbie918
    Abbie918 Posts: 120 Member
    I think you're doing all you really can. Unless you prepare your lunch at home and bring it, you never really know how much you're truly eating. If it's been working for you thus far, your estimates can't be that bad!
  • frannyupnorth
    frannyupnorth Posts: 56 Member
    I have a similar salad bar at work and usually have a couple of boiled eggs and assortment of salad. I log each item separately but take a guess (from practicing guessing weights of things prior to weighing at home) on quantity. I generally avoid anything calorie dense like oil based dressings as it's too easy to underestimate those and try to fill up on stuff like cucumber & green leaves where even a big weight error won't make that much difference as there are less calories per gram in them - I think cucumber is 16cals/100g for example.
  • 5stringjeff
    5stringjeff Posts: 790 Member
    It sounds like what you're doing is working. If you want to be a little more specific, you could potentially take a picture of your lunch (which is not weird in today's day and age) and log the food individually when you have time. As far as portion size, you would have to rely on approximate volume instead of weight, which will get you a reasonably accurate calorie count.

    Personally, I buy frozen meals and eat them at the office. Makes logging easy.
  • cmyers1188
    cmyers1188 Posts: 9 Member
    I have found that when doing buffets such as this, it is easiest to "guesstimate" by cups or ounces. When it comes to ounces, I go back to the old diagram of basing it off of your palm size. Also, because I measure a good bit at home, I know *roughly* what my size of peas should look like to measure out a 1/2c.
  • Queenmunchy
    Queenmunchy Posts: 3,380 Member
    I'd estimate too, but I'd separate out the ingredients like 1/2 cup of steamed broccoli, 1 egg, 4 slices of cucumber, etc. It's better than nothing! If you stop losing and can't figure out why, then it would be time to re-evaluate the way you're tracking, but it's all good now.
  • I_Will_End_You
    I_Will_End_You Posts: 4,397 Member
    If you're losing, I wouldn't worry too much about it. Weighing your homemade food will help you to make better estimates at work when you can't weigh. It sounds to me like you're doing just fine right now.
  • ThunderZtorm
    ThunderZtorm Posts: 27 Member
    Thanks for all the tips :)

    Since everything is going the right way currently, I'll keep going as I am now.
    If I ever hit a plateau, I'll start being more accurate with the lunch part - good idea to weigh from home, since I tend to take roughly the same amounts of the items at work every time.
  • Becca_250
    Becca_250 Posts: 188 Member
    edited April 2016
    KateTii wrote: »
    Honestly, if you're losing weight at a pace that is comfortable for you, it's probably not worth the stress trying to figure out a "better way". It seems like you are making sensible decisions and limiting portions of the higher-calorie items.

    Unless you took some home and weighed it, you probably won't be very accurate - and even then you don't know how much oil was used in cooking.

    The last option that I could see would to bring your own lunch, but it doesn't make sense to do so if you are happy with the canteen lunches.

    Agree with all of this.

    The only other thing I can think of is to practise measuring the most common items cucumber/sweetcorn etc at home so that you get better at eyeballing how much is going onto your plate. You will always be a little off on the accuracy but if you're still losing weight comfortably, you must be close enough. I don't log my ten minute walk to/from the bus stop for work to account for small inaccuracies within my food logging.
  • puffbrat
    puffbrat Posts: 2,806 Member
    If the food provider is a chain/large corporation like Sodexo you may be able to find the nutrition info in the database or online. Otherwise I agree to just estimate portions and keep going as you have been since you are losing.
  • endlessfall16
    endlessfall16 Posts: 932 Member
    Use their serving spoons and log the calorie dense foods such as meat, cheese. Ignore cucumber, brocoli, pea and such.

    After a week or two you should be able to dial in with your estimates.

    ps. I would save a ton of food money if I had such a lunch system. :)
  • DrifterBear
    DrifterBear Posts: 265 Member
    I bring my lunch most days so I can control what I'm eating. If I don't bring, I tend to go somewhere that has menus online that I can track. We also have a cafeteria and when I eat there, I get a turkey sandwich with mustard and veggies and maybe a side of chips or fruit. I can't track it exactly but close enough. And since it's the exception, I'm not worried.
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